Gov. Maura Healey and lawmakers are talking tough now but dropped the ball on Steward Health Care and missed warning signs for years that could have prevented the company from tanking.
The state’s toothless laws, lack of regulation and cozy relationships with health care executives all contributed to the for-profit Steward’s demise, but now Massachusetts elected officials are ducking responsibility and laying all the blame on Steward.
“I don’t want to lose sight of the fact that this situation stems from and is rooted in greed, mismanagement and lack of transparency on the part of Steward leadership in Dallas, Texas,” Healey said on Monday, hours after the company declared bankruptcy. “I’ve been clear about that, I’ll continue to be clear about that. The situation should never have happened and we will be working together to ensure that there are steps taken to make sure that this does not happen again.”
Easy to say now, after the fact. But where were Healey and others as watchdogs?
Healey – who has said Steward’s actions “disgusts” her – received $2,000 in campaign contributions from Steward CEO Ralph De la Torre while she was attorney general.
And while Healey spent much of her time as AG suing former President Donald Trump, she did nothing to crack down on Steward for eight years.
Since becoming governor, Healey wrote Steward a letter demanding the company be more transparent and release all its records – which Steward promptly ignored.
De la Torre also hosted a fundraiser for then-AG Martha Coakley while she was running for U.S. Senate, and has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democrats and Republicans, including Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, records show.
Coakley actually approved the sale of six hospitals to Steward in 2010.
“The attorney general has no data or experience to suggest that the for-profit hospital sector is prone to acting in a manner so inconsistent with the non-profit charitable sector as to merit particular operating restraints,” Coakley wrote.
While a few lawmakers have been critical of Steward, Beacon Hill and the congressional delegation were largely silent when the company was operating its hospitals and made deals like selling its real estate for more than $1 billion, closed the emergency room at Quincy Medical Center and shut down the maternity wards at Morton Hospital in Taunton.
In a move that was widely expected, Steward filed for bankruptcy around 3:30 a.m. Monday – followed by a press conference from Healey and others who talked tough and assured patients the hospitals would stay open.
“I want to make it crystal clear that I take it very seriously in any effort for this hospital system to make a profit to the detriment of patients to strip hospitals of their value,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said. “And if those efforts have violated the law, those involved will absolutely hear from our office at the appropriate time.”
Markey and Sen. Elizabeth Warren also put out statements blaming Steward and their venture capital owners for the collapse and endangering people’s health care.
“Despite the overwhelming evidence demonstrating corporate greed’s role in this bankruptcy, Steward, Cerberus and Medical Properties Trust will do everything in their power to escape blame and accountability,” Markey said.
And so will lawmakers. But the damage has been done and Healey and others are in damage control mode.
